Corporate Profile

Fresh Del Monte is one of the world’s leading vertically integrated producers, marketers and distributors of high-quality fresh and fresh-cut fruit and vegetables, as well as a leading producer and distributor of prepared food in Europe, Africa and the Middle East. Fresh Del Monte markets its products worldwide under the DEL MONTE® brand (under license from Del Monte Foods, Inc.), a symbol of product innovation, quality, freshness and reliability for over 125 years. The Company also markets its products under the MANN™ brand and other related trademarks.

Why Invest in Fresh Del Monte Produce Inc.?

• Our Business is Global

  Fresh Del Monte Produce Inc. (the “Company,” “we” or “us”) is one of the world’s leading vertically integrated producers, marketers and distributors of high-quality fresh and fresh-cut fruit and vegetables, as well as a leading producer and distributor of prepared fruit and vegetables, juices, beverages and snacks in Europe, Africa and the Middle East. We market our products worldwide primarily under the Del Monte® brand, a symbol of product innovation, quality, freshness and reliability since 1892. Our global sourcing and logistics network allows us to provide consistent delivery of high-quality products and value-added services to our customers.

  Our vision is to inspire healthy lifestyles through wholesome and convenient products. Our strategy is founded on six goals:

  • Protect and grow the core business;
  • Drive innovation and expansion growth on value-added categories;
  • Evolve our culture to increase employee engagement and productivity;
  • Become a technology driven company to drive efficiencies;
  • Become a consumer driven company; and
  • Sustainability: waste less for a better world tomorrow.

  We source our fresh produce products primarily from Central and South America, North America, and the Philippines. We can also produce, market and distribute certain prepared food products in North America based on our agreement with Del Monte Pacific Limited and its subsidiary Del Monte Foods, Inc. We source our prepared food products from Africa, Europe, the Middle East, and North America. Our products are sourced from company-owned operations, through joint venture arrangements and through supply contracts with independent producers. Through our vertically integrated network, we manage the transportation and distribution of our products in a continuous temperature-controlled environment. This enables us to preserve quality and freshness, and to optimize product shelf life, while ensuring timely and year-round distribution. Furthermore, our position as a volume producer and shipper of bananas allows us to lower our average per-box logistics cost and to provide regular deliveries of our premium fresh fruit to meet the demand for year-round supply. In 2019, 45% of the fresh produce we sold was grown on company-controlled farms and the remaining 55% was acquired primarily through supply contracts with independent growers. Costa Rica is our most significant sourcing location representing approximately 32% of our total sales volume of fresh produce products and where 35% of our property, plant and equipment was located in 2019.

  Our distribution centers and fresh-cut facilities address the growing demand from supermarket chains, club stores, convenience stores, foodservice providers, mass merchandisers and independent grocers to provide value-added services, including the preparation of fresh-cut produce, ripening, customized sorting and packing, just-in-time and direct-store-delivery and in-store merchandising and promotional support. Large national and global chains are increasingly choosing fewer suppliers who can serve all of their needs on a national basis. We believe that there is a significant opportunity for a company like ours with a full fresh and fresh-cut produce line, well-recognized brands, a consistent supply of quality produce and a global distribution network to become the preferred supplier to these large retail, convenience store chain, and foodservice customers. Due to our scale and reach, we believe that we are uniquely positioned as a preferred supplier. Our goal is to expand this status by increasing our leading position in fresh-cut produce, expanding our fresh fruit and vegetable business, continuing to grow these value-added products and diversifying our other fresh produce selections.

  We market and distribute our products to retail stores, club stores, convenience stores, wholesalers, distributors and foodservice operators in more than 90 countries around the world. North America is our largest market, accounting for 65% of our net sales in 2019. Our other major markets are Europe, accounting for 14% of our net sales in 2019, the Middle East 10% of our net sales in 2019 and Asia 10% of our net sales in 2019.

• Our Brand is Recognized Worldwide for Quality

We produce, source, distribute and market a broad array of fresh produce throughout the world, primarily under the Del Monte® brand, as well as under other proprietary brands, such as UTC® and Rosy®. We also produce, distribute and market prepared fruits and vegetables, juices, beverages and snacks under the Del Monte® brand, as well as other proprietary brands, such as Fruit Express®, Just Juice®, Fruitini® and other regional trademarks in Europe, Africa and the Middle East.

We also distribute under the Mann Packing family of brands including Mann's Logo®, Arcadian Harvest®, Nourish Bowls®, Broccolini®, Caulilini®, Better Burger Leaf® and Romaleaf®.

• Our-Products Meet or Surpass Customer Expectations

  Fresh Del Monte delivers nourishing, high-quality Del Monte® branded products that consumers need in their everyday lives. These products include whole fresh and fresh-cut fruit and vegetables and a prepared product line in Europe, Africa, and the Middle East that includes prepared fruit and vegetables, juices, beverages, snacks and desserts.

  The Company's fresh-cut produce line continues to gain prominence in many global markets. By offering our products in a ready-to-serve, ready-to-eat style, we are meeting the demands of busy consumers, individual retailers and our many commercial food service customers, including restaurants, schools and hospitals.

• We have Leading Market Positions

  Fresh Del Monte Produce Inc. holds leading market position in several key fresh product categories. At the end of December 27, 2019, we believe we are:

  • the largest marketer of fresh pineapples in the United States, and a leading marketer in other markets worldwide;
  • the third-largest marketer of bananas in the United States, and a leading marketer in other markets worldwide;
  • a leading marketer of:
  • fresh-cut fruit in the United States, Canada, Japan, South Korea, the United Kingdom, United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia;
  • fresh and fresh-cut vegetable products in North America;
  • grapes and avocados in the United States;
  • non-tropical fruit in select markets; and
  • canned fruit in the European Union (the "EU") and other European and Middle East markets.

• Our Capabilities are Unique in our Industry

  Fresh Del Monte has a unique global network that enables us to source and distribute our products on a worldwide basis. We believe that these sourcing and logistics capabilities, combined with the power of the Del Monte® brand, enables us the opportunity to lead our industry in the future. For example, at the end of December 2019;

  • We source our products from Company-controlled farms and independent growers located in all corners of the globe.
  • We transport our products to key markets via our fleet of owned and chartered vessels.
  • We have six new refrigerated container ships that are scheduled to be delivered commencing in 2020. This ship building program is expected to replace our entire U. S. east coast fleet of ships.
  • We operate 50 global distribution centers, many with cold storage and ripening facilities in key markets worldwide.
  • We operate 24 fresh-cut facilities that serve the needs of consumers in the United States, Europe, Asia and the Middle East, some of which are located in our distribution centers.
  • We operate 17 Food and Beverage stores.
  • We opened a fresh pineapple packing facility in Kenya in 2019 to supply our Middle East market.
  • We have an avocado sorting and packing facility in Mexico. This facility commenced operations in December 2019.
  • We also operate a fleet of approximately 7,000 refrigerated containers.

  Our vertically integrated network allows us to manage the transportation and distribution of our products in a temperature-controlled environment, which enables us to preserve quality and freshness and to optimize product shelf life while ensuring year-‘round distribution. What’s more, we continue to expand our network of distribution centers and fresh-cut facilities throughout select regions of the world. These investments meet growing demand from supermarket chains, club stores, mass merchandisers and independent grocers to provide value-added services, including the preparation of fresh-cut fruit and vegetables, ripening, customized sorting and packing, direct-to-store delivery and in-store merchandising and promotional support. In total, we market and distribute our products to retail stores, wholesalers, distributors and foodservice operators in more than 90 countries around the world.

• We Lead the Branded Fresh-Cut Industry

  Our fresh and value-added products segment includes fresh-cut produce (fresh-cut fruit and fresh-cut vegetables). Fresh-cut produce first gained prominence in many U.S. and European markets with the introduction of washed and cut vegetables. While packaged salads continue to lead the category of fresh-cut produce sales, the category has expanded significantly to include pineapples, melons, mangoes, grapes, citrus and assorted vegetable produce items that are washed, cut and packaged in a ready-to-use form. Market expansion has been driven largely by consumer demand for convenient, fresh, healthy and ready-to-eat food alternatives, as well as significant demand from foodservice operators. Within this market, we believe that there has been increasing differentiation between companies active primarily in the packaged salad market and other companies, like us, that can offer a wide variety of value-added fresh-cut fruit and vegetable items.

  Our net sales of fresh-cut fruit by region in 2019 were as follows: North America - 75%, Europe - 16%, Asia - 8%, and the Middle East - 1%. As it relates to fresh-cut vegetables, our net sales by region in 2019 were as follows: North America - 91%, the Middle East - 8%, and Asia 1%. The majority of fresh-cut produce is sold to consumers through retail and club store settings, as well as non-conventional settings such as convenience stores, gas stations and airports. We believe that outsourcing by food retailers will increase, particularly as food safety regulations become more stringent and retailers demand more value-added services. We believe that this trend should benefit large branded suppliers like us, who are better positioned to invest in state-of-the-art fresh-cut facilities and food safety systems and to service regional, national and global chains and foodservice operators, as well as supercenters, mass merchandisers, club stores and convenience stores. We also believe that large branded suppliers benefit from merchandising, branding and other marketing strategies for fresh-cut products, similar to those used for branded processed food products, which depend substantially on product differentiation.

  Our fresh-cut fruit products include Del Monte Gold® Extra Sweet pineapples, melons, grapes, citrus, apples, mangoes, kiwis and other fruit items. With our acquisition of Mann Packing in 2018, we have significantly expanded our offering in North America to include a broad variety of fresh and fresh-cut vegetable products. We believe that our experience in this market coupled with our sourcing and logistics capabilities and the Del Monte® brand have enabled us to become a leading supplier of fresh-cut fruit to the supermarket, convenience and club store channels in the United States.

  Our fresh-cut products are sold in the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, France, the Middle East, Japan and Korea. Worldwide, our fresh-cut product sales volume increased by 4% during the past year.

  The fruit we use in our fresh-cut operations are sourced within our integrated system of company-controlled farms and from GAP-certified (good agricultural practices) independent growers. We purchase our vegetables for these purposes from independent growers principally in the United States and Mexico. Our purchase contracts for both fruit and vegetables are typically short-term and vary by produce item.

We Have a Seasoned Management Team

• We have one of the most seasoned management teams in our industry, with managers having 20 years of industry experience. This outstanding team has a solid growth strategy, and interests that are directly aligned with those of Fresh Del Monte’s shareholders.

Safe Harbor Disclosure: This press release contains certain forward-looking statements regarding the intent, beliefs or current expectations of the Company or its officers with respect to the Company's plans and future performance. These forward-looking statements are based on information currently available to the Company and the Company assumes no obligation to update these statements. It is important to note that these forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance and involve risks and uncertainties. In this press release, these statements appear in a number of places and include statements regarding the intent, belief or current expectations of the Company or its officers (including statements preceded by, followed by or that include the words "believes," "expects," "anticipates" or similar expressions). The Company's plans and performance may differ materially from those in the forward-looking statements as a result of various factors, including (i) the uncertain global economic environment and the timing and strength of a recovery in the markets the Company serves, and the extent to which adverse economic conditions continue to affect its sales volume and results, including the Company's ability to command premium prices for certain of its principal products, or increase competitive pressures within the industry, (ii) the impact of governmental initiatives in the United States and abroad to spur economic activity, including the effects of significant government monetary or other market interventions on inflation, price controls and foreign exchange rates, (iii) the impact of governmental trade restrictions, including adverse governmental regulation that may impact the Company's ability to access certain markets, (iv) the Company's anticipated cash needs in light of its liquidity, (v) the continued ability of the Company's distributors and suppliers to have access to sufficient liquidity to fund their operations, (vi) trends and other factors affecting the Company's financial condition or results of operations from period to period, including changes in product mix or consumer demand for branded products such as its, particularly as consumers remain price-conscious in the current economic environment; anticipated price and expense levels; the impact of crop disease, severe weather conditions, such as the recent adverse weather conditions in the Company's banana production areas, or natural disasters, such as earthquakes, on crop quality and yields and on its ability to grow, procure or export its products; the impact of prices for petroleum-based products and packaging materials; and the availability of sufficient labor during peak growing and harvesting seasons, (vii) the impact of pricing and other actions by the Company's competitors, particularly during periods of low consumer confidence and spending levels, (viii) the impact of foreign currency fluctuations, (ix) the Company's plans for expansion of its business (including through acquisitions) and cost savings, (x) the Company's ability to successfully integrate acquisitions into its operations, (xi) the impact of impairment or other charges associated with exit activities, crop or facility damage or otherwise, (xii) the timing and cost of resolution of pending legal and environmental proceedings, (xiii) the impact of changes in tax accounting or tax laws (or interpretations thereof), and the impact of settlements of adjustments proposed by the Internal Revenue Service or other taxing authorities in connection with the Company's tax audits, and (xiv) the cost and other implications of changes in regulations applicable to its business, including potential legislative or regulatory initiatives in the United States or elsewhere directed at mitigating the effects of climate change. All forward-looking statements in this report are based on information available to the Company on the date hereof, and the Company assumes no obligation to update any such forward-looking statements. The Company's plans and performance may also be affected by the factors described in Item 1A. - "Risk Factors" in Fresh Del Monte Produce Inc.'s Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 29, 2017 along with other reports that the Company has on file with the Securities and Exchange Commission.